Im about to get deep into level design and structure of the worlds, This will include things like enemy types, puzzle structures and so on, this will impact how the game plays and feels allot so I would like to take feedback on what your favorite platformer game(s) are to help shape this game for you.

[Earthworm Jim Series]
The original EWJ game I loved because of the quirky humor and simplicity of the weapons control. The second EWJ game added more weapons but switching them around was a pain and detracted from the game so I didn't enjoy it nearly as much.

[Sonic the Hedgehog]
The Sonic games were fun basically because of him rolling up into a ball and blasting around the level pike a pinball. However, collecting rings and Chaos emeralds often involved tedious bits of going slowly around the map until you found what you are looking for.

[Contra Series]
Simplicity at it's best. Up up down down left right left right b a start.

[Megaman]
The side-scrolling Megaman games were great. Weapon switching took you out of the game but you didn't need to switch often as different weapons tend to be useful in general.

[What not to do]
1) Sequels should never add stuff just to add stuff. If you have great gameplay the first time either tweak it to make it better or add elsewhere to the game.

2) Don't add difficulty just to make the game more difficult when it makes gameplay less fun.

3) If you have a game with free exploration like Castlevania or Metroid then make sure the player has some idea of where to go OR make sure all general areas are beneficial to explore.

For example if the player goes left the player gets bombs to be able to blow open the floor and go down. If the player goes right the player gets wings to fly up.

[What to do]
So what do I want in a 2D side-stroller? Well there is no one right way to make a game. The game could allow exploration or be linear. The game could be a simple side-scroller or more RPG-like.

1) Some puzzle elements though Contra didn't have any of these and it was still a great game.

2) Simple gameplay though building on simple mechanics you can do fun complex stuff like in Fat Princess. Fat Princess allows players to Attack, jump, pickup objects, and switch between base and advanced class weapons. Picking stuff up allows you to switch classes by picking up a new hat, pickup and throw bombs and chicken potions, and pickup wood & metal resources, all of which may be dropped or thrown depending on what you want to do. Dropping bombs and potions means they won't go off while throwing causes them to explode on impact.

4) Sometimes what keeps players playing is a good story like in Disgaea. Sometimes the story seems like an afterthought (like in US Blaster Master) in which case it would actually be better to leave out the story (and the top-down mission parts). Tetris didn't have a story and yet many people think it is a fun game._________________ Nybbles and Bits Cereal, there's data in every byte!
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Comix Zone: It was unique and fun. Very immersive, too.
Gunstar Heroes: This is probably my favorite side-scrolling shooter of them all. Fast, fun as hell gameplay. And, it had its own cool, unique style.
The Sonic series: Duh.

So generally, a great game(in my book) should have something to make it stand apart from the sea of other merely good games in that genre. It could be the artistic style, unique things for the player to do, storyline, or a bit of all this stuff and more mixed together. All great games are immediately identifiable as THAT GAME. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't know a Sonic game when they see one, right? I'm not trying to say you should aim to make Twisted Fates compete with something as classic as Sonic. You should try to make this game interesting, though.
I think background music has the ability to add to(or take away from) the overall experience of a game. All 3 games mentioned above have awesome music IMO, and it definitely helps the player get drawn in.
Of course, attention to style shouldn't push you to forget about priority number one: gameplay. Why would anyone want to play a game that isn't fun?

I'm not trying to say you should aim to make Twisted Fates compete with something as classic as Sonic. You should try to make this game interesting, though.

For some reason this made me think about the mechanics behind Twisted Fates and Sonic. One is an iPhone game and the other is a console game. This means Twisted Fates could have more of a touchscreen popit window to deal with inventory or weapons.

TomServo1 wrote:

I think background music has the ability to add to(or take away from) the overall experience of a game. All 3 games mentioned above have awesome music IMO, and it definitely helps the player get drawn in.

I don't think Leuvsion has the budget to hire the greatest composers to create background music just for him. There are a couple of free sites HitmanN mentioned before that have audio files available. Read the websites to find out about licensing.
http://www.freesound.org/http://www.soundsnap.com/

TomServo1 wrote:

Why would anyone want to play a game that isn't fun?

Remember the latest Iron Man game for the PS3 and 360? Ask someone who has played it._________________ Nybbles and Bits Cereal, there's data in every byte!
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Soundsnap only lets you download five audio clips per month for free though. However, if you gather a list of what you'll need, then you can pay for one month's subscription and download quite a bit more. Should be enough to cover a small-to-medium project, provided you'll find what you need in there. I've often searched for certain sound effects but found nothing matching my needs. Random audio clips are not a match for an experienced sound editor, I've gathered.

I think background music has the ability to add to(or take away from) the overall experience of a game. All 3 games mentioned above have awesome music IMO, and it definitely helps the player get drawn in.

A little while back I was discussing about games with a friend of mine, and we came to a conclusion that basically all the (console, at least) games we like most have a memorable soundtrack. It's definitely an important factor, at least for me and that friend of mine.

When I think about it, it's possible (for my tastes and priorities) to break games to three elements, Presentation/story, Audio, Gameplay. All of my favorite games are exceptionally good at at least two of these elements.

When I think of the games that I've enjoyed for a brief period only, all of them have one or none of these elements to count as a strong points. It's ok for a game to have sucky presentation and story, but if playing the game just for playing's sake is fun, and if the music and sound effects get your adrenaline pumping, you can be immersed in it without a greater purpose. A game with only a good gameplay can last a while, but bad audio and presentation is going to eventually get on your nerves. Likewise, while gameplay is one of the most important things in a game, with an inspiring presentation and story, and an epic soundtrack, you can enjoy playing a game for a long while, just for the sake of feeling being part of it, even if the parts where you actually play aren't as fun. It's like watching your favorite movie and being forced to do some chores in-between, but you'll still want to see it to the end, so you'll do those chores.

Basically, I see that out of those three elements, if two are a strong, the game has a much longer lifespan.

For Twisted Fates, considering that the game is primarily iPhone based, presentation is limited by a small(ish) screen, and the story so far isn't exactly sounding epic, although interesting. Likewise, controls on a phone aren't exactly the best for creating a fluid gameplay. Although I haven't used iPhones, I would assume it's no match to a gamepad, so there's a good degree of people who will never be able to see phone gaming as a fluid experience. If we were to secure two of those three elements for Twisted Fates, I'd say we prioritize either presentation/story or gameplay, and try to make that shine above others, and make sure the audio rocks, because it's the thing with least limitations, IMO.

1) PLOT & IMPACT (THEME) -- What happens in the game and the sequence of events that may occur. What impact the game has emotionally on the player. The meaning or main idea of the game that draws the player into the game.
2) CONTROL -- How well the player is able to use each game mechanic and and overall gameplay.
3) CHARACTER -- The role a character plays and how the player relates and emphasizes with the character. How the character behaves throughout the game.
4) LANGUAGE -- The choice of language used by different characters and used throughout the game environment.
5) SOUND & MUSIC -- Sound and music can be used to set the mood of the game and queue the gamer. Appropriate music can draw the player into the game. Sound can provide feedback to the gamer to when something happens such as a successful hit or a miss.
6) SPECTACLE -- The look and feel of the game and how the characters and environment act and interact with each other. The way the game environment is shown or obscured and how it impacts the gameplay._________________ Nybbles and Bits Cereal, there's data in every byte!
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